Update – 1350 AD
Just when it seemed that Kuril’taria’s warring ways have ended… it turns out they didn’t end at all. Apparently seeing itself defeated in the west, the Tatars have turned to the south – against Nepal – to try and reaffirm their self-confidence and imperial glory.
The Nepali warriors of course had been expecting a war to come from the north, since there hadn’t been incidents with Travancore in many many years while the Tatars have been warlike almost constantly. Still, they are outnumbered. Even with the bulk of the Nepali forces being on the northern borders, the Tatars flowed through in
huge hordes.
On top of that, the lightly-defended southern border has been breached by Travancori forces, and the capital itself has fallen, followed by the collapse of Nepali royal authority elsewhere as well.
Overall, many Nepali Buddhist monks told people
not to resist the invasion, not just to save lives but also because they thought the Nepali royal dynasty that ruled the country for so long had oppressed Buddhism long enough and now karma was catching up. Still, while the cities have mostly surrendered to the invading forces, some Nepali peasants have begun hiding in the mountains and ambushing some Travancori or Tatar units. Even this resistance is not expected to last too long, though.
KURIL’TARIA: -1,300 Infantry, -400 Cavalry
TRAVANORE: -2,000 Infantry
Not all Tatar soldiers support even the invasion, though – the recent decentralization of government made some Tatar soldiers and officers pretty much ready-for-hire by any new provincial warlord. Some units did not move across the border when the messages came from the central government, listening instead to “their” provincial leaders. Some of the generals have begun contemplating taking some of the spoils of war for themselves, of an independent state in Tibet.
Even with these thoughts of secession, there is some regained confidence that Kuril’taria
is still strong, after all. (+2 Confidence point)
For the Travancoris, the fall of Kathmandu to their army is yet another boost to the rising support and confidence in the government. Never before has Travancore being so strong and stable. (+4 Confidence points)
The Vietnamese Empire is extremely unstable. Vietnamese aristocrats ruling China are being decimated by constant peasant disturbances – none long-lasting but enough to rattle the law and order in Vietnamese China. Western Chinese provinces, however, have been amazed by the show of Kuril’taria’s force against Nepal, and rebellions have joined some of the western areas to Kuril’taria.
The Byzantine government and Church is sending missions to Byzantine Anatolia to try and convert the Muslim Turks living there, but there has been extremely little to none luck in that endeavor. The Anatolian Turks, greatly encouraged by the success of their brothers in their homeland, the restored Seljuk Empire, are entrenched in their Islamic beliefs and are confident in the strength, perseverance, and value of their own culture.
This is the same in the Armenian and Israelite parts of Anatolia as well – any attempts to convert the Turks to the Zoroastrianism and Judaism, respectively, are rebuffed by the vast majority of the populations. Though the Turks of Anatolia have almost all learned the language of the countries they live in, they otherwise remain unassimilated.
When a Sicilian merchant’s family came to Armenian Anatolia on vacation, for instance, the family matron wrote in her journal that “despite sharing certain Asiatic, eastern heritage and physical features, the Armenians and Turks are completely different. One could tell easily which of the servants and peasants were Zoroastrian Armenians and which were Muslim Turks. Even among the local nobility, the only similarities were physical features, which were overshadowed by the extremely different styles of clothing and adornments worn by the nobles.”
Some Byzantines, especially those in the province of Greece, are becoming quite vocal about imposition of laws restricting the rights and benefits of unassimilated Turks and advocate the settlement of people from the European provinces of the Empire in Anatolia to help the assimilation and “make Anatolia truly Byzantine”.
In Armenian Anatolia, there are already a few conflicts here and there between Armenians and Turks, as Armenians had always been settling their people in the province ever since the Turks had first become a majority there. If there comes a time of trouble with Turks in Anatolia, it looks like it will start in the Armenian portion.
Conversely, the Turks of Israelite Armenia are feeling less pressures, and though there have been efforts to convert them, the Turks and Israelites are otherwise getting along just fine with each other. Why is Israel’s native population not agitating for assimilation like the Byzantines or starting conflicts like the Armenians? Well, simply because the Israelites have become used to cultural diversity, getting a first taste of it with the Arabic Palestinians, then with the opening of various trade routes with other empires, and finally uniting with Malagasy for a few centuries. Thus, the Israelites have long been exposed to other cultures and despite the secession of Ophir (lands of former Malagasy), the Israelite society and empire remains very cosmopolitan. Still, if pushed too far, trouble may start even in this peaceful part of Anatolia.
The Papuan Grand Tribal Council has decided to join the Australian Republic, with only 2 of the 57 councillors voting against union. Few educated Papuans were really doubting that the vote would turn out this way – even the most optimistic tribal leaders thought that Papua on its own was not a viable country and would come to depend on someone sooner or later. If not for the Nurajids’ abuse of Balist trusts by invading Australia, the Papuans might have chosen to join Malaysia, but with the war so fresh in the memories and conversions still happening from Balism to Demosism, Australia was consequently the only real choice.
Meanwhile, the revolts in Malaysia are over, the rebel groups finally agreeing with the new government in power. A new university dedicated to the Balance is also being built in the capital, sponsored by the Naryan dynasty, the successors of the original family patriarch Niriz Naryan that founded the post-Nurajid government.
War begins anew in Europe. The support of Germany, the continent’s strongest Catholic power, has ensured that peace shatters, as the Pope in Rome has called a Catholic Crusade against the Eire. Catholic Europe answers the call readily, the only place where there is hesitation being the Eirian isle of Ireland, where the Catholic Eirians are split between loyalty to their homeland and loyalty to their faith.
In a sweeping dual-fronted invasion, France is overrun by Catholic forces, and even in the few places where the French rebels were squashed by Eirian and supporting Scandinavian forces, the French end up rising again to welcome the Catholic League. Immediately before German entrance into Paris, the leading French rebel noble, Louis Bourbon, is made the new King of France, and lays claim to all Eirian land between Iberia and the Rhine, with the exception of southeastern provinces claimed by Venezia.
The Mediterranean Kingdom, meanwhile, has struck in eastern Iberia, to begin the liberation of the Iberians. Several Iberian rebel leaders are pledging allegiance to the Mediterranean Kingdom, but it is unclear whether the rest of Iberia will choose to join the southern Italian monarchy or restore their own independence.
An interesting surprise is the arrival of many Moroccan soldiers, ships, and some mercenaries in Iberia as well. About 4,000 Moroccan Infantry, to be precise, have arrived in Gibraltar, and about 1,000 Moroccan ships are now patrolling the harbor of the city. Interesting enough, the Moroccans don’t seem intent on establishing hegemony anywhere other than the city of Gibraltar, and have actually allowed Iberian rebels promoting union with the Mediterranean Kingdom to power in Moroccan-occupied areas outside Gibraltar city. Perhaps they hope for a lucrative trade with the Mediterranean Kingdom to revitalize their collapsing economy?
Naval battles are overwhelmingly in Catholic favor as well – many sailors on fleets stationed near the continental coasts are Catholic, and when they heard of the Pope’s call for Crusade, they obeyed and rebelled against loyalist and non-Catholic admirals and captains. The rate of defection is staggering. 600 ships’ crews declared loyalty to the Kingdom of France; 124 pledged themselves to the commands of Germany; 30, to the Mediterranean Kingdom; 40 have simply left the Eirian fleet, presumably to pursue careers as pirates and privateers. Those that remained loyalist – whose crews either chose not to rebel, or whose mutinies were crushed – have been getting attacked by the traitors left and right. A small loyalist fleet at Gibraltar was all that stood between the Moroccans and the city but it, too, was defeated easily.
Defections have been occurring among the land forces as well, about 3,000 soldiers leaving Eire to join militias in forming the core of the new French army.
In the northeast, the Lithuanian navy is taking positions to defend the Baltic coasts of the local Catholic League nations (Lithuania itself and Germany), while the army is preparing itself for war as well, expecting Scandinavian attack soon.
SCANDINAVIA: -4,000 Infantry
GERMANY: -3,500 Infantry, -1,000 Cavalry
The continued success of neighboring Travancore is causing the rage in Afghanistan to boil over. A noble has gathered support and us leading his own segment of the army and starting uprisings against the other feudal lords. Kabul is already under his control, and he declared that he would consolidate power to avoid another repeat of the humiliation in the Afghani-Travancori war, in which the disorganization of the feudal lords’ armies and their own varying loyalties contributed to collapse on the battlefield and the hasty and embarrassing peace treaty.
The eastern Persian rebellions have been crushed by the Sassanids, however.
The Japanese army has crushed the Korean rebellions after they lost their initial momentum and many peasants decided to go back to daily life.
The Toltec Republic has acquired even more Yoruba territory. This time, the deal was through fraud, the Toltecs promising to send the payments that have not reached the Yoruba Confederacy. The Toltecs claim the convoys were on the way but were attacked by bandits. More legitimate deals were made between the Toltecs and not the Yoruba central government but with the frontier princes and tribal chiefs, who have begun to serve Toltec interests more than that of their own homeland. These bribed provincial leaders have begun sending caravans of slaves to the Toltec colony, and slavery has begun within the Toltec colony itself as well, slavers taking random villagers.
The Eastern Aristocratic Republic has changed its name to simply the Russian Republic. A few skirmishes on the Russian-Ruthenian border have occurred as well, and both are appealing to the Byzantine Orthodox Patriarch, trying to convince him that one is more powerful, worthy, and faithful than the other. Though Russia is stronger militarily, Ruthenia is a monarchy, and thus looked upon by many in Croatia, Hungary, and the theocratic council of the Byzantine Empire as the country to support in a struggle for power on the eastern fringe of Europe. Furthermore, the Russian Duma has many Jewish and even pagan representatives, something unacceptable by the standards of many in the clerical hierarchy of the Byzantine Orthodox Church. Ruthenia’s royal family, however, is devoutly Orthodox and all of the non-Orthodox wealthy have been stripped of whatever princely or ducal titles they may have held.
At the behest of the Zulu Empire, Tanzania has placed tariffs on goods coming from and Israel, and has withdrawn from the Jerusalem Defense Pact. Uprisings have begun in southern Ethiopia and southern Somalia, to join the Zulu Empire, which the rebels feel is much more superior. Somalia’s government may soon be pressed to join the Zulu camp as well, its army being comparatively small and weak, and Israel no longer having a presence on the African continent. Could it be possible that this is the beginning of a Zulu offensive against Africa’s Jewish nations? How will the Republic of Ophir fare against the might of the Zulu Empire?
The Andes Republic has begun a vigorous effort expand southward, to stop the expansion of the Illini colony. There is also an increasing isolationism in the Andes Senate, and some people are pushing for a tariff on the Amazonian trade. Others argue that a tariff would only hurt the only-recently friendly relationship with Amazonia and in the long run not only restore the chances of a war but also ravage the Andes economy.
NPC Diplomacy
From Ruthenia
To Byzantine Orthodox nations:
Support
us against the bastard Russians! They are unworthy! Just because they have a larger army does not mean they are the right emissaries of God in the east! Just look at their government –
swarming with Jews and pagans!
From Russia
To Byzantine Orthodox nations:
Listen not to the Ruthenians! Look at them – they couldn’t even raise their own crops right and had a famine in their own land! And their monarchy that you all love so much? They are descended from some fool who had to
flee a revolution! Clearly the Ruthenians are not fit for self-government if their own dynasty is a bunch of runaways! They need us to educate them!
From Vietnam
To Kuril’taria:
Cease your support of the rioting in our Chinese provinces, immediately!
From Vietnam
To Malaysia:
The Tatars are now encroaching on our territory. It’s enough that they eliminated Nepal, but now they turn to us. Will you help us against them?
From Jewish Sultanate of Morocco
To Mediterranean Kingdom:
We propose that all Iberia become part of your kingdom, with the exception of Gibraltar, which shall remain Moroccan. If you agree, we will also stop trying to proselytize so much against your people and allow free passage for all people between our empires.
From Pope
To Scandinavia:
The Catholic League is willing to overlook your mistake of sending troops to crush the Catholic rebellions if you promise neutrality in the conflict. If you choose to help your “friends” from Eire, the Crusade
will come to your land as well.
From Australian Republic
To Travancore:
NAP and trade?
Story Bonuses
Travancore: +1 Confidence point
Penalties
OOC
Update is not yet complete. I still have to do stats and fix the rules. If anyone has any complaints about the rules once they’re edited, please offer reasons or suggestions. Don’t just say “this doesn’t make sense” without offering a better workable alternative or tell me “the rules are not all that”. I don’t need that **** from anyone. It doesn’t help at all and is just
really asinine to downsize me like that.
Absolute deadline for orders is Wednesday 11 PM US Central Time. People who have government types that need review of orders, please send ASAP and I will be responding w/ the review notes or approvals as soon as I get your orders. Thank you.